In a current charging system, a GGSN (gateway GPRS support node, Gateway GPRS Support Node) or a PDN GW (packet data network gateway, Packet Data Network Gateway, abbreviated as PGW) (referred to as GGSN/PDN GW hereinafter) performs; for each UE (User Equipment, user equipment), a bearer of each UE, or a flow granularity in each UE, charging measurement (Measurement), which may also be referred to as charging collect (collect) or referred to as charging count or account (count or account), for example, volume count, that is, volume based charging (Volume based charging); or duration count, that is, time based charging (Time based charging). Then, the GGSN/PDN GW notifies a charging system of charging count information, for example, a counted data traffic or counted time, that is, the GGSN/PDN GW generates a CDR (charging data record, Charging Data Record) which may also be referred to as a charging bill, and the GGSN/PDN GW notifies the charging system of the generated CDR.
MTC (machine type communication, Machine Type Communication) application refers to network communications implemented between one or more network elements or devices without human participation, that is, M2M (machine to machine, Machine to Machine) application, such as traffic control and management, plant monitoring, remote meter reading, and other applications. For the MTC application, an operator generally charges based on the granularity of an MTC User or an MTC Subscriber (MTC subscriber), and the MTC User or the MTC Subscriber may include multiple MTC Devices (MTC devices), that is, UEs. For example, for a meter reading service of electricity, the MTC Device is an electric meter, and the MTC User or the MTC Subscriber is a power company; and for a traffic control and management service, the MTC Device is a traffic monitoring device, and the MTC User or the MTC Subscriber is a traffic management department.
During the implementation of the present invention, the inventors find that the prior art at least has the following problems.
On one hand, according to a current charging processing mechanism, the GGSN/PDN GW generates a CDR for each MTC Device, and then the GGSN/PDN GW reports the CDR of each MTC Device to the charging system. However, the charging system cares the CDR of the MTC User or the MTC Subscriber, rather than the CDR of an individual MTC Device. Meanwhile, numerous MTC Devices exist, so that the generation of the CDR for each MTC Device greatly increases the processing load of the GGSN/PDN GW, causing the overload of the GGSN/PDN GW, and influencing the normal operation of the system.
On the other hand, for an enterprise network, an operator also performs charging based on the whole enterprise network, instead of charging an individual UE in the enterprise network. However, in the current charging processing mechanism, the GGSN/PDN GW generates a CDR for each UE in the enterprise network, and then the GGSN/PDN GW reports the CDR of each UE in the enterprise network to the charging system. However, the charging system cares the CDR of the whole enterprise network, rather than the CDR of each UE in the enterprise network. Meanwhile, numerous UEs exist in the enterprise network, so that the generation of the CDR for each UE in the enterprise network greatly increases the processing load of the GGSN/PDN GW, causing the overload of the GGSN/PDN GW, and influencing the normal operation of the system.